I didn't say anything about actually believing you are the character. Immersion doesn't have anything to do with deception and is more about being engrossed or deeply involved with something. You can be immersed in other things too, like a tv show, book, or tabletop game.
I think it's less about being "tricked" into believing you aren't actually playing a game, and more along the lines of having the mindset that you are actually playing as your character. It's more like the difference between performing tasks, going from A to B, and checking boxes on a list, versus actually feeling like you're going on an adventure.
As someone who has put countless hours into various MMOs (including FFXIV), I totally get people getting anxious about their characters looks potentially changing. I remember when WoW had their character model update as the feedback from players then. Blizzard resolved the issue by adding a client-side option to toggle between old and new character models.
It is the same model, but the difference is in the horns and scales. Those pics don't do a very good job of showing it, though. From the paragraphs right above the pics:
Following community feedback after the announcement of the graphical update back at the fan festival event in Las Vegas, he shared an update of the Au Ra race, whose updated horns and scales had been initially revealed as looking very reflective but a little too much like enamel.
“This reflectivity looked very high quality so it was good for showing off, but it didn't really match our vision of what we wanted the Au Ra to look like from our original design back in 3.0, so we continued tweaking,” Yoshida admitted before sharing a new headshots of a male and female Au Ra where their horns look less reflective and more natural. “This goes for all of the updates for the other races as well. What we showed in Las Vegas wasn't the final product but a work in progress.”
The Epic v Google lawsuit is bringing to light a lot of interesting tidbits of info, so I think it's just that. It's an interesting tidbit, but not really relevant to much outside the trial. That said, I do like seeing this kind of info shared, as it gives us a peek behind the curtain of these megacorps' operations.
Basically, Fortnite is rolling out a new system with user-generated "islands" that can have their own independent rating from the main game. If an island is rated E for everyone or E10+(as opposed to the base game's rating of T for teen), some of the game's cosmetics aren't able to be equipped in those areas. People are upset because 1. they paid for those, and 2. apparently there are inconsistencies between what is allowed and what isn't.
Unfortunately, many games nowadays are digital only, especially on PC. The last "physical" game I bought (Mass Effect Andromeda... yeah, I know) was just a box with a key to redeem on Origin. While DRM-free games are a thing, it's not always an option.
Last year's TGA was somewhat exciting because they gave away a bunch of Steam Decks. I normally just see the winners posted the next morning, along with any new game trailers.
A large big-box store and the line wasn't single file. A lot of people were in small groups as well. I could be misremembering since it's been years, but there were maybe 2-300 people.
As much as I dislike Musk, I want to see his setup. Does he have some crazy custom home theater setup for maximum immersion, or does he just sit on the couch or at a desk like the rest of us?
I attended the Switch release at my local Best Buy. I decided to swing by after work on a whim (I work evenings) and managed to snag a sheet to reserve a copy. There were probably a few hundred people in line, but nothing crazy like the line wrapping around the store or anything.
I played off and on a bit, and purchased Forsaken when I was playing last. I took another break before playing through it all, then they sunset the content. I paid for content that I never got to finish and can no longer play. So yeah, I'm definitely done with Destiny 2 and probably whatever else Bungle puts out.
I didn't say anything about actually believing you are the character. Immersion doesn't have anything to do with deception and is more about being engrossed or deeply involved with something. You can be immersed in other things too, like a tv show, book, or tabletop game.